I have come home from the trip and I am sitting in my flat, wondering, pondering of what I could write about my sixteen day trip across Europe. I use the word “across” but it’s only 3-4 cities, Munich in Germany, Amsterdam in Netherlands and Verona and Milano in Italy.
The dream to travel around the world, was conceived fully when I was in fifth grade and we had an excerpt from Jules Verne’s novel: Around the World in 80 days. And in the story, the author makes a bet and says he can go around the world in 80 days and at the end when we think he has lost, he crosses the “international dateline” and had forgotten to reset his watch, so he’s there one day early. All of that: the travel, the preparation, the compass, the international dateline, the resetting of the watch, getting on steamers, getting off ships, buying local newspaper at different ports and seeing the world, all of it was exciting and a calling. Although, the idea, was impregnated much earlier, when I was in third grade or younger, my mum had woven me a dark blue winter cap for school, it was like a European hat and I would always wear it with chic, tilting the rim a bit on one side and my parents would say “She’s come from London” half jokingly, so I guess the fashion for hats and long coats called me to travel, and I relished and indulged myself in seeing the elegant dressing style during the trip, the long boots, the long coats, it was people’s everyday attire in Munich; Verona and Italy. The trip was a gift from me to myself, and I think it was a ripe age to explore the world.
I recall what the trip was like, all of what I saw:
the museums, Vincent Van Gogh’s portrait in person, the strokes, like the birds of a feather, finally Vermeer’s The Milkmaid, of what Alain De Botton mentions in his book: How Proust can Change your Life [1] of how Vermeer paints day to day life stills, and what Susan Sontag mentions in her book: On Photography about how even that is an artistic bias from which side, angle and time you chose to paint it from, you wait for until the right emotions are evoked.
I also saw the model of a fighter plane and ships with sails, and how always the question of “If I can fall in love with anyone and for any thing, would it be this?” And how the feminist in me wants to fight back, else I would be accepting defeat or the status quo that women are less interested in planes, and of how by not accepting this, I have chained myself to a certain idea again. I don’t have to be everything for everyone, even for myself? I guess someone else already did it, one person was enough, Amelia Earhart, disappeared while trying to circumnavigate the world, that’s tragic but also inspiring.
If Hong Kong [2] was my retirement place, I would choose Munich to be my Deep Work place, (no, haven’t read the book yet) and I would spend months in Verona to write a novel or a book, as thoughts and words flow like water there, I wanted to be there and do nothing more than just write, write, and write some more. It felt as if the city itself is fictitious, my travel notes say “people are living, they are not rushing or hustling towards the next thing, nor are they lost, they are aware and simply living”. I stood below the statue of the Italian poet, Berto Barbarani and he’s looking up, I try to follow his gaze, a carved pigeon is sitting next to his shoe on the right side, and with his left hand, he is holding a walking stick and top of the stick is beautiful too, it’s a shape, maybe pigeon, reindeer or something. I google him up, as soon as I learn, he is a poet and try to find his most famous poem’s english translation, he talks about Verona’s beautiful landscapes. I reached Verona at dusk, so I saw it only in parts, I wanted to see what Berto saw to write beautiful verses about Verona, so I wake up early the next day before noon train to catch a glimpse of the landscapes, I retrace my steps to go to the place I missed in the night because I was late to check in to my hotel, it’s called Corso Castelvechhio, I imagine it to be a castle, and it is and it is not. It’s a castle locked out but also a bridge built over the Adige river, people are going for a run, taking their babies out for a walk and breathing fresh air, it’s like a normal street. And looking at the river flowing from the bridge, I guess I agree with what Berto wrote about Verona, it might have been more about the Alps and the journey towards it or maybe there’s more to explore 🙂
the warmth, the clear sky, the flowing river: nature in a city
If I may, umm, I liked the Bavarian Flammkuchen more than the Italian pizza, I am afraid Italians would come after me, thankfully my blog is not that famous.
One of the paintings in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam was: A couple was making out in the park, the children were looking at the couple, the statue over the bench where the couple was sitting was looking at the children, the man was looking at the woman and the woman was looking at the viewer, how perceptive. A Game of Eye-Catch. Painting is called, “A Couple Making Love in the Park Spied by Children” by Adrianne Van Der Werff [4], I loved the eye-tracing game when looking at the painting, such an interesting way to engage the viewer before Netflix’s Bandersnatch
I saw the inside of cockpit of a plane and the roof overhead was filled with toggle switches, I wanted to see for myself, if I want to be a pilot, nope, thanks, I cross off that from my list of possibilities.
I love driving fast and going really fast on a vehicle, it’s exhilarating, the revv, the speed, the fast pacing machinery, and even Einstein’s thought experiment, if car were to travel at the speed of light, what would you see? It’s like stepping on the accelerator/gas, you are testing the limits of mankind.
I also just finished listening to “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” [5] by Lori Gottlieb; I have been recommending this book to people left and right, I didn’t need to read it full from start to finish to talk about this wonderful text, every time I took a break or “paused” the book, it was a pause in the conversation, she has done a commendable job, and I feel the need to write about it strongly. I personally suggest taking it slow and reflecting on the way.
Thoughts I am thinking on (not from the book):
..not running away from something, but towards something..
…assume good intentions…
..some people are just looking to get offended, don’t be that people…
Roulette of Books for this month:
- The Culture Map by Erin Meyer
- The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
- On Photography by Susan Sontag
Thanks for reading,
I know it’s all over the place,
well I flew all over the world,
so why not 🙂
Himanshi / Calra
[1] https://himanshikalra.com/longest-novel/ ; https://himanshikalra.com/proustian-life/
[2] https://himanshikalra.com/country-to-retire-in/
[3] Miscounted ^^’
[4] https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-C-265 *
[5] https://himanshikalra.com/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone/
* Viewer Discretion is advised!
P.S. this is part 3 of the blog, part 1 and part 2 will be published later in random order.
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